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Anyone Grind their own burgers?

So I was sitting at break today with coworkers who used to be butchers and they were telling me what all one guy used to put into the ground beef. This needless to say turned me off, not that I haven't eaten any of those before but didn't really want to hear it. So I thought maybe I should grind my own burgers and was wondering if anyone else here does it and if it is worth the effort.

I've been grinding my own sausage and burgers for about a year now and it's well worth the effort. It can get pricey, though. You might be able to start off cheap by using the grinder attachment on a KA mixer or by going with a hand grinder, but if you like it you'll find yourself itching for a dedicated grinder and stuffer.

Of course, if you're just looking to do your own burgers and not looking to get into sausage making then you should be plenty happy with a hand grinder or a KA attatchment.

I've heard of great success blending meats for burgers, like Beef + Lamb.

My family never bought ground beef when I was a kid...my mom would clean out the bulk of the meat in the grinder by grinding up bread. Then my brother would EAT IT. RAW BEEF AND WHITE BREAD.

Nothing wrong with that. Not much different than eating a really, really rare steak. My father used to eat "cannibal" sandwiches when he was young - he would snitch freshly ground beef from what my grandmother was grinding, and put it between two slices of bread with a little salt and pepper.

The problem with e coli occurs with commercially ground beef, primarily because of poor sanitation and a lack of inspection.

I use a KA to grind meat for burgers. I shoot for 70% chuck and 30% short rib but if I see a small piece of skirt then I will throw that in also. I grind the meat twice and salt it in between the first and second grind. I try to cook the burgers within 30 minutes of grinding which is easy to do at home.